


Two Days Without You

by StarrBomb



Series: Two days without you [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura is sick, Don't worry, Kaltenecker Makes an appearance, Lance is a badass when it comes to languages, Lance is a such a space mom, Lance is fine, Panic attacks are mentioned, big brother lance, even Keith, everybody misses him, everybody worrying about lance, lance also is surpisingly strong, mama lance be looking after his family, she/her pronouns for pidge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-24 00:20:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9691199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarrBomb/pseuds/StarrBomb
Summary: Lance has to go on a solo mission to find rare herbs that will make a cure for Allura. while he is gone, the others realize how much they need Lance. Not just as there Blue Paladin, but as a special thing he has become for each one of them. The mission is suppose to be only two days long. but for the team, it feels like too long.





	1. Hunk's 2 days without his best friend

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to Dirt. You're fic, Translation, was so good. I loved you're head canon that Lance is a natural when it comes to languages, that I had to put a bit of it into my own fic. Please go read his/her fic. It's really great.

Hunk was already missing Lance when he was appointed this mission. Hunk was already missing Lance when he was getting into his lion. Hunk was already missing him as the blue lion sped off into space. Hunk is missing Lance right now, as he's making cookies in the kitchen. Trying to occupy his mind with cooking.

Hunk misses being able to talk to him or hearing Lance ramble on and on about the most random of subjects and ideas. Hunk didn't like this kind of quiet. Don't get him wrong, everybody likes some type of quiet. Hunk’s is the kind of quiet when you know that everyone is just enjoy each other's company, a sort of shared quiet. He doesnt like this stilted kind of quiet, a quiet that just sort of looms over you, the type of quiet that makes your chest hurt but you can't really explain why. Hunk HATES that kind of quiet, it makes it feel like something isn't right, that something is missing. And someone was; Lance was missing.

Ok, so he wasn't like, lost in the cosmos or inprisioned in a galra prison…….GOD Hunk hopes that Lance is alright.

'Ok…..it's ok. Lance is fine, it's just a simple mission. Lance will be back in a day or two. He promised he would be fine. Breathe….In…..Out…….In…….Out. Lance is gonna come back in two days with the herbs that we need.'

That was the reason for the whole mission, to get some type of rare herb for Allura. The only problem is that only the blue lion was capable of going into the terrain where this herb grows. And lance is the only one of them who has experience in thatkind of deep sea diving. Hunk knows this, he's seen Lance do it back home, before they went to the Garrison, Hunk's even handled his equipment while he was checking out old ship wrecks that even experienced divers usually stay away from. 

So Hunk has no reason to worry. No reason to worry if he will be ok. But he can't help it. Hunk has always been a worrier. But cooking always helps calm him down; think things through. But it's just not the same without Lance. It feels….wrong. It feels wrong not having Lance sitting on the counter, no matter how many times Hunk tells him not to. It feels wrong not having Lance help him find the right ingredients for a recipe. It feels wrong not being able to talk his worries away, knowing someone is listening, someone is valididating his worries. It feels wrong not listening to Lance’s next ‘big plan’ to one-up Keith, or his own worries and fears. Everything just feels......wrong. 

'Maybe the others will enjoy some of these cookies. I know Lance would. He always loves taste testing.'

Two days. it's not that long. But to Hunk……..it's gonna feel like forever until he has his best friend back.


	2. Pidge's 2 days without a brother

“It'll be nice not having to listen to Lance’s one-liners and jokes.” Pidge comments once the blue lion was out of sight. “ if anyone needs me, I'm gonna be working on the new upgrade for the green lion.” With that pidge makes her way over to the green lion’s hanger. She stops in her room to grab her laptop, then races down to the hanger. She plops down onto floor and gets to work on coding and writing algorithms for her newest upgrade to green. 

'Finally...some peace and quiet. No Lance to come and bother me in the middle of a project. No Lance to annoy me with all of his questions. Just me and my algorithms.'

At least that was what pidge thought for the first two hours. Now it's four hours later and she's this close to bashing her head in.   
“AAAAUUGGHHH!!!!why won't you FUCKING WORK!!!!” Pidge screams to her computer screen, showing her that her upgrade was STILL not doing what she wanted it to do. Somewhere along the line, she did something wrong or skipped a step or this whole laptop is just being the stupidest piece of crap hardware and it just want her to be pissed off!   
“UGGHHHH!!! I don't get it!! I've handle stuff like this before!!! Why can't I figure this out!! What am I MISSING?!?!” She yells again to no one. 

'Man, this is usually where Lance comes barging in, calling me some lame nickname. Bringing in some sort of pillow or blanket, hell, he's brought in both sometimes. But………he would always wrap me up in the blanket, or stuff the pillow behind me for some sort of cushioning.'

Pidge realizes that her back is killing her, the hours of hunching over a computer screen on a cold metal floor finally catching up to her. Pidge stretches her back, earning a couple of pops as her back is screaming at her for not using some kind of support for it. 

“Man, I wish…” realization hits her hard, almost taking her breath away. “ I wish Lance was here. He always gives me back massages when he finds me like this. He always…… always lets me lean on him when I'm working late on a project.” She can't help but remember all the times it would be late into the castle’s ‘night time’ and Lance would find her plowing through codes or whatever galra information they scrounged up from their latest mission. He would always wrangle her from her laptop, wrap her up in big warm blankets and pull her into his lap. While she would still go on with her work, he would just hold her, letting her lean back into him. Pidge never realized until now that it always gave her a sense of…..home. Well more of, it always made her feel supported and loved. It made her feel safe and secure. It felt like home.

Pidge notices how cold it actually is in the hangar. How cold it is when Lance isn't pulling her into his lap, or wrapping her up in a big blanket. She shakes her head, trying to chase away the cold loneliness that's crept in.   
“Well….at least i don't have to deal with any of his dumb questions about computer coding or my algorithms, I mean he doesn't even understand half the stuff. He'd probably ask something stupid like 'what about other codes? Would they work the same way?' Even though I've told him a Thousand times that certain coding might work for one system, but won't do anything for a...different….type of…..software!” OF COURSE!!! I was using the completely wrong coding! This kind might work for my computer, but lions are a completely different type of software!!!   
Pidge starts to type away on her computer when she stops, having a far off distance kind of look.   
“And Lance knows that…..he's asked that question too many times not to know that different coding works with different systems and algorithms…..yet….he would ask anyways….so that I can remember that. I guess….sometimes it's nice having someone around to look at things from a different point of view. I guess it's….nice that Lance would do that for me…..to help me figure it out on my own.”

'Lance has been helping me….all this time. And I never even knew it. Now that I think about it…..he would listen to me rant about how projects would get held up or when I got stuck on certain things. He would listen…...he never complained. He would just ask simple questions...and help me figure out what went wrong. He would bring me food and blankets and pillows….because he was lookin out for me. '

“Maybe…...it's not so bad having Lance barge in...cause that's when I'm most frustrated about things. That's when I've been sitting on a metal floor for hours. Cause that's when I need to vent and….he's always there to listen.”   
Pidge isn't looking at the screen anymore. She saves her work and closes it. Trying to get up only makes her realize again how long she's been sitting on the hard metal floor. It feels like her bones are actually going to make creaking sounds as she get up onto her feet. Pidge doesn't know exactly where she's heading, but she can't help but think more about Lance.

'Now that I think about it, he’s even come into my room in the middle of the night, or I guess our synthesized nights, because I had a bad dream. Whenever I ask how he knows he always says ‘I just have that brother sense’. That answer never makes sense, but he would stay with me. Hold me, run his fingers through my hair, rub my back in soft circles.Whisper little promises about how we are going to find my family, how we're going to keep them safe once we do, how…..how he's going to make sure that we all get back to Earth, to our families. I know he can't keep all of those promises…….but it always help me calm down. It….it reminds me of what Matt used to do whenever I had a nightmare.'

Pidge somehow or another, ends up in the kitchen. Hunk is pulling outshot looks like the third tray to a batch of cookies…..Pidge couldn't really tell, everything was kind of blurry.   
“Hey Pidge, glad to see that your…..on my god, Pidge! Are you ok? What's wrong?” Hunk comes over and kneels down to Pidge's level, placing his hands on her shoulders.  
“Huh?”   
It's all she can manage to say, trying to figure out why Hunk thought something was wrong.  
“You're crying.”   
Pidge lifts a hand to her cheek, yup that's wet. She didn't realize she started crying, but she doesn't really care about that.  
“ I….I miss Lance.” Pidge manages to get out before she really starts crying. Smashing her face into Hunk's shoulder, wrapping her arms around his neck like it's the only thing keeping her from falling. She feeling him wrap his arms her, saying in a hushed tone “it's okay, I miss him too. He’ll be back before you know it. Trust me, in two days, he's gonna be back and everything is gonna be ok.” Pidge knows this, she knows that he'll be ok, but she can't help but cry anyways. “I…..I don't want to wait anymore. I miss him now.” She chokes out. Pidge doesn't know how long they're like that, holding each other. Pidge crying and Hunk just holding her. After what feels like hours, Pidge finally manages to stop crying, being completely wrung out emotionally.

“ do you want to talk about it? Or…..help me make another batch?” She can't help but give him a watery smile, knowing that he's just trying to help her. She nods her head slowly and climbs on top of the counter, getting a disgruntled mumble about not sitting on counter tops from Hunk. But Pidge doesn't really have it in her to snap back a sassy response like usual. She just wants Lance back.

'I miss him.   
I miss my brother.  
I miss my family.   
I miss Lance.   
I miss the brother that he's become.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the comments I got for the last chapter, so please, send comments about what you liked about it, and if you want more. Thanks so much for the love.


	3. Shiro's 2 days without his rock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is talk of panic attacks and dark thoughts in this chapter, I more or less based the panic attack on how my panic attacks effect me. If you'd like to say how yours work, i would love to hear it.

SHIRO

 

“Hey, don't worry. I'll be back before you know it.”   
That was the last thing Lance said to them before he was off. It might have been for everybody, but to Shiro, it felt more like he was saying it directly to him.

‘Don't worry.’

Shiro didn’t want to believe that Lance has already left. He didn’t want to think about why either.  
of course he KNEW why Lance left. to get the hachiki…..hachigu….. however it was pronounced herb from some subterranean world. Shiro was worried about Lance going alone though, he even suggested going with Lance, having some experience in diving from training to being in space.   
But Lance had shot him down, saying that deep sea diving was completely different from the zero-gravity training shiro had. AND he did have a good point that Shiro's arm would have him sinking to his death the moment he was out of Blue. The idea of drowning on some foreign planet….or just drowning in general stopped him from pushing the matter any further.   
He shouldn't worry so much, he trusts Lance, he never doubted him for a second that he couldn't get the job done, he just doesn't like it that he's out there all alone. But, Lance said don't worry about him. So Shiro will try. 

‘Don't worry’

after seeing Lance off, Shiro tries to keep himself busy to keep his mind off it. He goes to the training deck first. But it seems that Keith Is already there, going hard at the gladiator. Shiro was about to ask if Keith wanted to spar with him, but from the way Keith is going at the Gladiator, Shiro thinks it was wiser, and maybe a bit safer, to leave him be. 

he goes to the archives room next, hoping that reading old reports might help. He tries to read the Altean logbooks from past missions Voltron has done (or at least, that's what he assumes the logbook is about, having the definitive ‘v’ on the front) but this just reminds him that Lance isn't here to read them to him, like he has done so many times before. With so many other books. After about an hour of trying to understand the same two pages, Shiro gives up on it. Trudging out of the archives and goes back to wandering the ship.

‘Don't worry’ 

Shiro ends up in one of the break rooms that he and Lance often meet up in. He slowly sits down on the sunken couch. Looking up into the abyss of space. Shiro can't help but smile, remembering about how before they became…..whatever it is they are…… Lance would always find Shiro in here or in other rooms that he thought no one else knew about. Lance would sit by him and ask if he wanted to talk about it. Shiro used to always decline, not wanting to burden Lance with his nightmares or panic attacks, and Lance wouldn't push on it. Instead he would try and help Shiro relax; making up Constellations from what they saw from the stars they see, or just rubbing his head and shoulders. Shiro remembers when Lance caught him in the middle of a bad episode, but instead of freaking out like Shiro thought…..Lance slowly approached him, saying something, Shiro can't really remember much about it, but it was in a low calm tone. It was filled with so much empathy and...and kindness. Shiro does remember that his hands were no longer digging into his head, but rather being cradled by Lance’s hands, and he slowly had Him Lay down on top of him. Shiro has tried to remember what else happened in that moment, but sometimes when he has a panic attack, the rest of the world will be completely blocked out, and he can't focus or remember what's happening around him. But he does remember coming out of it, laying on Lance’s chest, hugging him as close as he can and Lance holding him back, not enough to keep him there but more along the lines of just showing he's not alone. “Hey there, you back with me?” Lance asked, Shiro had tried to talk but he couldn't get any words out, so he just went with nodding his head. “Do you want to get up?” No, no he didn't want to get up, he didn't want to be left alone again. “Okay, okay. Don't worry, we'll stay as long as you need.” And they both woke up hours later with cricks in their necks and sore backs, but that was the best Shiro had Slept since before Kerberos.  
Shiro opens his eyes, coming back to reality. The reality that Lance wasn't here. At least, not right now. He doesn't really know how long he was in there; just sitting, watching the stars, remembering.

‘Don't worry’ 

Shiro takes to finding the others next, hoping that one of them would need him in some way, hoping that helping them might get his mind off of Lance.  
He finds Hunk and Pidge in the kitchen, talking over a batch of pink cookies.they say that they're fine, but Shiro can see that Pidge's eyes are still red, most likely from crying. But Shiro doesn't say anything about it. ‘Ok, on to finding Keith.

He checked the training deck, but it seems Keith left it awhile ago. It takes him awhile but he finally finds Keith; oddly enough, in the ‘garden’. Well that's what Coran says it is, but it looks more like a desperate attempt at one. The ground is more then dried up along with any plant that was once grown here. Cracks in the stone pathways and it once had a fine layer of dust on top of them from how much time had passed since anyone has ever really been in here. But it looks like someone has tried to sweep away most of the dust off of the walkways. Lance had done it, Shiro remembers that Lance had talked about trying to revive the garden, Shiro thought that there wasn't really anything left to save, but Lance had told him something that his mother had said to him,  
“some seeds don't die, not make how much it may seem like it. They only really die when we give up on them.”   
Shiro follows the pathway until he sees Keith with...Kaltenecker? So this is where Lance put that cow.  
“Hey Keith, what are you doing?”   
“Just…...talking.”   
“With...a cow?”   
“It helps me think things through, I guess.”   
“Ok, well if you want to talk about anything, you can come to me. You know that, right?”  
“Yeah, I do. Thanks Shiro.”  
Shiro nods, turning around to walk back out when Keith says something offhanded.  
“He’s growing things here. He's trying to make the garden into that again, a garden.”   
Shiro looks back and Keith is just staring at the ground. Shiro looks to where Keith is and notices that the ground around them looks in much better shape than the rest of the ‘garden’. It also looks like it even has some sprouts poking out of the ground already.  
“ looks like it. Maybe, with some help we can have this whole place looking like a jungle.” Shiro says, imagining what this place must of looked like when it had gardeners and caretakers, when it actually looked like a garden.  
“Do you think Lance would want my help with it? I've never really gardened before, I might get in the way”  
Shiro can't help but smile alittle, Keith and Lance never really got along, but Shiro knows that Lance does care about him.  
“I think he would say something about how annoying it will be to have you help, but he would probably drag you to help him any chance every chance he could.” Shiro said giving one last pat on Keith's shoulder. Hoping that whatever was going through Keith’s head, hoping that Keith would talk with him, or the others when he was ready.

‘Don't worry’ 

Shiro goes on with his walk around the castle, not really thinking of anything else to do at the moment. Looking in a few more rooms, more out of curiosity than for security. He bumps into Coran,who looks more of a mess then when he found out that Allura was sick.   
“Woah.slow down Coran, or else you're going to wear yourself down to the bone.”  
“ while I would love to be able to relax, I'm afraid that if I even leave the princess’s side for more than a tick, she could get even worse.”   
“I know that you're doing everything you can to keep her from getting worse, but if you don't get rest soon, you're going to be too tired to make the cure when Lance comes back.”  
Aaannndd now I'm worrying about Lance again.  
Coran lets a sigh, “you're right. I'll try and get some sleep soon, I promise. Now, if you excuse me, I need to get back to Allura.” Clean quickly takes off down the hall, heading to Allura’s room no doubt.   
Shiro can't seem to get that moment out of his head either.   
They had been visiting a new planet, hoping of finding new allies that would join their fight. Instead, all they found was a field of large flowers, ranging from blue to red and some speckled with both. He should have realized something was wrong about these flowers the moment they walked into that field, the flowers were all closed, but as soon as Lance and Allura stepped into the field, all the flowers around them had opened quickly, covering them head-to-toe in some weird glowing pollen. While Lance didn't seem to have been affected by it, Allura became alarmingly ill; practically collapsing after only getting a few feet away from the field. Coran called it the Flugorian virus. Thankfully, it seems that Humans are immune to it. But not Alteans, if left untreated, Coran said that she might fall into a coma and die. 

That's why Lance is out there, all alone. Diving leagues below an ocean planet to find the last ingredient they need for the cure. That's why Lance is putting his Life at risk, for something Shiro didn't stop. Because he failed to protect his team. Failed to protect the princess. Lance is doing something dangerous because Shiro failed.

 

Shiro started speed walking from hall to hall,moving more on auto-pilot than paying attention to where he was going. He tries to think of something else, anything else but his thoughts keeps going on this downward spiral, being up more and more of how he failed Allura, how he failed Matt and Sam, how he Failed being a leader. He failed. He failed. He failed.   
He blindly keeps power walking until he ends up at a door. But he's having a hard time remembering whose door.  
Is it my door? Am I at my room door. No, no that's right, this isn't my door. This is Lance's door. Right. I went looking for Lance. I always go looking for Lance when I start getting like this.

‘Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it’

Shiro knows Lance isn't in there. But god does he wish he was. He wishes Lance was here so that he could just….let go of everything. Let go of having to be in control. He just wants Lance to tell him that he doesn't need to worry about anything. that he has everything under control, so Shiro can just relax, and let Lance take care of him. While the others may not know this (Hunk might know, I've never really talked with any of them about this.) but despite his lean figure, Lance is a heavy lifter. There have been more than enough times where Shiro has become so overwhelmed, either by nightmare or flashbacks or even self-doubt about his role as team leader, where Lance has literally lifted Shiro onto his lap. It’s there that Shiro knows that he doesn't have to be in complete control of himself, it's in Lance’s arms that Shiro can breakdown, it's there that Shiro doesn't have to worry about how weak he may look, or how terrified he is. Lance seems to have this way of calming Shiro down, of helping him through panic attacks and anxiety attacks alike. Shiro can't count the times that he's gone to Lance in the middle of the night after a horrifying dream, and just sleeping with Lance. That where Shiro wants to be right now, in Lance’s arms. Shiro wants to be able to release control of himself. But he can't. He can't let the others see him like that. He can't let go of control. Not yet. At least not until Lance comes back. 

‘Don’t worry, I'll be back before you know it’

Shiro steps into the room. Trying to remember what Lance has told him a hunderd times before  
‘Just breathe, you’re safe. Breathe with me, okay? In….’   
Shiro takes a deep breathe in, the smell of Lance’s favorite shampoo coming in with it.   
‘.....and out’   
Shiro lets it all out in a harsh sigh, his shoulders sagging with the exhale. He does this again and again. After a couple of these he sits down on the bed. His body becoming more and more limp with each exhale, only for it to tense up with every inhale.   
The smell of the room helps Shiro out, helps him pretend that Lance is right there with him, leading him through the breathing exercises. He doesn't know when he closed his eyes, but when he does open them he can't help but remember that he's alone. How long has he been in here? It's probably late into the castle's simulated night cycle, The lights are dimmer then when he came in here. But Shiro can't really focus on that though. All he can think is that Lance isn't in here with him. That it's his fault Lance isn't here. It's his fault that Lance isn't here with his beautiful smile,or his contagious laughter. That Lance isn't here to hold him until all the bad thoughts go away, or for Shiro to hold him close when either he needs to hold something close or when it's Lance that needs it. Lance isn't here to tell him that he's a good team leader, or that everything is ok, or that he's safe here. Lance isn't here. At least not right now.

‘Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it.’

 

‘Two days without Lance? I’ll do my best Lance but please,come home quick. You don't know how much we need you. How much I need you.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments. I love all the comments that you guys have been sending, it really makes my day. 
> 
> If you guys see anything wrong about how I represented a panic attack. I more or less based it off of how my panic attacks or my anxiety attacks effect me. 
> 
> My next chapter might take abbot longer to get out, but it will be put before the end of the week.


	4. Keith's 2 days without his family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so, this is unedited. My spelling might be off, but it all came to me in one big burst and I wanted to get it down and out here as fast as possible.i really hope you guys like it.

Keith just couldn't wait to see Lance off, two days of Lance on a mission means two days without having to fight over every little thing. He still doesn't know why Lance says that it's going to take him two day though. He knows Lance has already told him, he'll, Lance went on a full on rant about the dangers of deep sea diving and the safety precautions of it all,talking about something bendy? He wasn't really paying attention. 

After Blue left the hangar, he left to hit the training deck. Glad to be able to train without hearing all of Lance’s taunts and challenges. At first, it was exhilarating, clashing swords and how every move has a mean, whether dodging or leading to the next strike, it's all about the enemy in front of him. One-on-one. The adrenaline rush can be a bit addicting, with every hit whether to his opponent or to him, it's like another shot of adrenaline. Time becomes sort of a blur, what feels like minutes can be hours. Keith likes that about fighting too, the way time just slips by, makes the days seem quicker.

Keith doesn't really know how long he was in there, level after level, fight after fight. It wasn't until he got his butt handed to him for the fifth time on the same level that Keith finally called it quits. Getting up took way longer than it usually does.  
Every bruise and cut screaming at him to stop moving. Keith managed to get to a bench outside of the training deck before his legs finally gave out on him. Sitting down helped him catch his breath but also remember every hit he took, some small nicks from the bladed gladiator from level four, others being nasty bruises from being thrown around like a rag doll on level six. It's farthest level he's gotten to yet, usually Lance waltzes in and overrides the deck to stop attacking on level five.   
Keith can't help but chuckle to himself about how Lance will pull him away from training because, as Lance puts it, “you're gonna become a walking bruise if you keep this up.” 

Keith tries to make a move to stand up again, but his body still isn't having any of it, and instead involuntarily lays down on the bench, the coldness of it helping the bruise on his cheek from a pretty nasty hit from level two. 

‘Lance would be probably be yelling at me about how awful I treat my body, he'd probably say” you're always pushing your to the limit to get stronger, yet you won't even stop long enough to feed yourself.” ‘

Thinking about food jump-started Keith's stomach into over-drive, growling up a storm. It was enough of a push to get his body up and moving again, heading to the kitchen this time. 

‘Man, I don't usually hurt this bad after a rough training session. Usually Lance…...usually Lance comes in and stops me, he always patches up any cuts and bruises…..he always brings food too. I guess…..he does more than pick fights with me. I've never really noticed. What else does lance do around here that I haven't noticed?’

Unfortunately both Hunk and Pidge are in the kitchen. And once Hunk sees the state Keith is in, he definitely is trying to push Keith to sit down or to go to the infirmary. To which Keith thoroughly declined, and thankfully Hunk dropped the subject but he did make Keith sit down. Keith snagged a few of the cookies that look way to pink to be considered food. But after the first one, Keith ‘stole’ at least three more. As he ate, he heard Pidge talk about how Lance would look after her when she would get too involved with her work, and how he would listen to all of Hunk's worries and fears. And Keith can't help but think more about what else Lance did for the group. 

After Keith had his full of cookies and Hunk’s and Pidge’s techno-babble that he's pretty sure not even they completely understand, he starts to wander around the ship. His body isn't fighting him as much now but it still hurts, so that means getting more training in out of the question. And he isn't really sure what else to do. So he wanders. Thinking. About Lance of all things.

‘So, Lance always makes sure I have some food and he even patches me up after harsh training sessions. He keeps Pidge company and makes sure that she doesn’t freeze her butt off or get back pain. Heck, he helps her figure out solutions to problems she's having on projects. Hunk and Lance have been friends for years, and have probably done more things for each other then anybody on this ship knows. Help with anxiety and fears could just be the top of iceberg that is their friendship. I wonder if he does these kinds of things for Shiro and Allura too? Maybe Coran as well? I know Lance will help around the castle when he can, so who knows what they talk about when their cleaning.’

Keith somehow ends up in the garden. Most of it dead and dried up. “Looks like nothing has lived here in a long time.” Keith says more to garden than to anyone else. That is until he bumps into….Kaltenecker? So this is where Lance but the cow. Keith takes a moment and looks around at his surroundings, noticing that this area of the garden actually looks somewhat like a garden, the most that's growing looks like grass, but even that is an improvement. 

‘I wonder who did this? Maybe Coran? or Allura, she might have started gardening…..no, I think it was Lance.’

Keith knew the instant he thought it. It had to be Lance. Only Lance would grow grass first so that Kaltenecker had a food supply of her own. Only Lance would think of that first when it came to gardening. Keith's legs were starting to wear out again so he sits down on a bench not too far,   
Kaltenecker following him all the way there.

“Let me guess, you miss Lance too?”

Keith is pretty sure he's gone insane. he's talking to a cow.

“Yeah, I guess I miss him too. I never really realized how much he does for everybody; I mean now that I think about it, he always listens to everyone's ideas and plans. He'll make sure everyone is taken care of first before getting treatment for injuries, even if his are more severe. And what he means to everybody. To Hunk he's a best friend! To Pidge, he's a brother. I'm not exactly sure what he is to Shiro or Allura. By pretty much everyone knows Coran sees him like a son, or nephew. But I guess the real question is…..what do I see Lance as? I THOUGHT he was just some annoying average pilot, but now…..now I don't know. Every time I think about how Lance really takes care of us, I can't help but remember more times when Lance would but us first, or when he would go out of his way to take care of us like it's just second nature…..you know?” Keith looks back at Kaltenecker, seeing her just give him this unfazed look, as if she already knew all of this.  
“Hey Keith, what are you doing?  
~~~  
After his talk with Shiro, Keith left Kaltenecker to her grass, and went back to wandering the halls. Though he didn't really do much of anything. He checked the observation deck; nobody there.   
He checked the break lounge; not a single noise.  
He checked the kitchen; all cookies gone and no sign of Pidge and Hunk.   
‘I guess everybody went to bed early.’  
Keith couldn't really blame them, without Lance everything just seemed less lively; just too quiet.   
Keith checked out a few more rooms, but more or less just kept thinking about the same thing- what was Lance to Keith? 

He didn't get his answer When the lights dimmed, signaling that the castle went into night mode. 

He didn't get his answer taking a shower, washing off the sweat and dried on blood( there wasn't really a lot of it, but it was still kinda gross) from before.

He didn't get his answer when he laid down to try and get some sleep.

 

No, the answer came to him when he woke up from a nightmare, one that he's had time after time back on Earth, but Lance didn't come in, like he did every time Keith woke up from a nightmare. That was when he got his answer…...Lance was family. Lance made this rag-tag team of teenagers into a family. And God, Keith has never wanted his family to be here so bad. He….he wants Lance. 

‘I might be able to handle two days. But I have don't want him gone longer then he has to. I want Lance to come home as fast as possible. Because this isn't a home without him.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't forget to leave comments, they are always so uplifting and I love to hear what's you guys think. The last chapter might take a while, I'm still trying to figure out how I want it to end. But it should be out by next week.


	5. Chapter 5

The first day was hard, full of a lot of realizations and of worry. 

 

 

The second day, it was a bit easier. Knowing that he would be home any minute.

 

 

That was, if Lance had come back that day.

 

 

At first, they just thought he was being ‘fashionably late.’ That's such a thing Lance would do.

 

 

But when he didn't come home the next morning either…….everyone was on the edge of a breakdown, or of breaking something.

 

 

 

He would come home…..he had to come home.

 

 

 

Day three……...and Lance still hasn't come home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Muhahahahahaha!!!!!!!! I know I'm evil. Don't worry thought, not THAT evil.


	6. Home

By the morning of the fourth day everyone was in various stages of panic and have taken refuge in the Blue Lion’s hangar. Hunk and Pidge have claimed one of the corners for themselves. Hunk as been holding on to Pidge for deal life since yesterday. He's either staring out into space or looking at Pidge's screen. Shiro more or less is pacing from one end of the hangar to the other, staring out at he entrance as well, as if, if he were to look away he would miss Lance. Keith had taken to the other corner of the room looking at the others, worried more for them if Lance doesn't come back any second. 

But Finally, four days after Lance left for the mission, His lion enters its hangar. Slower than usual, sure, but finally Lance was back. As if on cue; Coran enters the hangar and everyone is flocking to the lion. But oddly, the Lion won't open up. No matter how much banging on her or yelling at Lance to open up any of them do. A loud sound, as if a microphone just turned on, comes from Blue.  
“Hey guys! Look I gotta explain this fast so listen up, I can't come out of Blue. At least not yet. Coran, I'm sending down the herbs you needed through the airlock, but once you get them you gotta book it to the infirmary. Ok?”

“Understood Lance, send them down!” Coran yells back. Blue suddenly opens her mouth but all there is is a jar of submerged plants that look like a mix between glowing seaweed and green beans. Coran snatches the jar and races out of the hangar, eager to start making the cure for Allura. 

Once Coran had taken the jar, Blue’s mouth clamps shut again. Not letting anyone enter. 

“Lance?! What's going on!?!” Shiro yells, “ why won't you come out!?!”

“I need to be depressurized. Slowly.I can't leave until the air pressure in Blue equals that of the room.” Lance said over the speaker.

“What, Lance that's stupid, you've been gone for four days! We miss you dammit! get you ass out here!” Pidge yells back, getting a stern look from Shiro. 

“He can't Pidge, if he leaves Blue before he’s depressurized, he could die.” Hunk explains, holding Pidge back from trying to break the Blue Lions locking mechanism. 

“WHAT?!?!” The others scream, looking at Hunk. Shiro and Keith becoming slack jawed, and Pidge more or less freezes in Hunk's arms. 

“ Hunk's right. But I'll be out as soon as I'm in the clear.” Lance’s voice echoes around the large room. 

After the others gather up their composure as much as they can Shiro finally asks “so how long til you're in the clear?” 

“Hold on let me check.” 

Everyone waits in anticipation as the quiet creeps back into the room, making thing a bit more eerie than it needs to be.

“ Blue says that it'll take about 8 hours til I'm fully depressurized and able to come out.” 

“8 HOURS!!!” This time it's Keith whose yelling at the lion. “ we've already waited four days for you to get back from a two day mission!! Now we have to wait 8 MORE HOURS?!?!” 

“Aw, Keith, I didn't know you cared.  
sorry about taking way longer than I thought to get back, I ran into some trouble.”

Shiro can't help but sigh,   
‘Well this is better then him NOT being here. But if everyone keeps yelling, no one is gonna be able to talk to anyone.’   
“ and we’d love to hear it Lance, but how about we grab our helmets first so we don't have to yell.” 

“ good idea, I'd hate for you guys to lose your voices before I even get out yet.” 

With that everyone left the hangar, a silent agreement among them that none of them are leaving the hangar until Lance can. They all grab their helmets, but also as many blankets and pillow they can carry. Hunk on the other hand went to the kitchen to grab all the food and snacks that he's made in the last three days, hoping that there is enough to last the eight hours. 

Once everyone reconvened in the hangar; blankets and pillows alike litter the floor, food on trays and plates set off to the side, but just in arms reach in case anyone wanted one. Once everyone had their helmets on and have taken their seats or wrapped in their blankets, shiro turn back to the Blue Lion and asks,“so what happened out there?”

Once Lance started, he didn't stop for anything.   
It seemed that he found the planet easily enough and finding the plant, and while finding the plant took some time, it was still a pretty simple mission. Once Lance found the plant, he had Blue slowly match the pressure of water outside of her, after which Lance went out and grabbed at least two jars of the stuff. Lance thought it was mission well down. And as he ascended from the ocean, he had Blue slowly depressurize the cabin as well, helping more in the fact that Lance wouldn't have to do it once he got back. He thought it was a pretty great plan….until he heard cracking behind him once he got above the oceans. Lance turned around to find that plants had died, no not just died, pretty much eroded the glass jars as well. They were unusable and wouldn't help anyone. So Lance had to go back down, re-pressurize himself to the environment and use the last jar he had to collect more. Lance had figured out that the depressurization process he had Blue do was what killed the plants, so Lance had to keep Blue at the same pressure as it was where Lance got the herbs to make sure it made it back to the castle. But, it also seems that keeping Blue at that type of pressure made her go slower than usual.  
“So that's why it took WAAAAYYY longer than originally thought. I didn't mean to worry you guys.” 

“ we’re just glad you're back Lance.” Shiro says, smiling up at the blue Lion. ‘I knew you'd be alright’

“Yeah, don't scare us like that again, or I'll erase all the music on your iPod.” Pidge comments, glad to have Lance back. “ NOOO! Pidge don't! I need my music to live!” Lance whines, voice filled with playful banter. ‘God, how I missed that’ 

For the next 8 hours everyone talks about anything and everything. About their families, well it was more like how many embarrassing stories about Lance did Hunk have throughout the years of being best friends, and it was a lot, everyone's favorite was the one where Lance had gotten the number of a drag queen, thinking that he was an actual woman. 

They talked about things they want to do when they got back to Earth, and they all agreed they had to take Allura and Coran to a children's science museum, because as Lance put it, “watching to adult aliens learn about human science in the most childish way would be the funniest thing any of them could think of.”   
No one could really deny that it would be hilarious. 

After they were talked out, they decided to play truth or dare, which ended sooner than everyone thought but none really complained, after that they went on to playing 20 questions. They did anything to help make those 8 hours seem quicker. Somewhere along the line Coran came back in to inform them that he had given Allura the cure and that she’s already getting better. While Coran was confused as to why Lance was still in Blue, even though he returned hours ago, a quick explanation from Hunk cleared up any questions he had.

“ well my boy, I wish that you are in good health once you are able to leave leave Blue. I am finally mgoing to get some sleep. Goodnight paladins.”   
“ good night Coran.” Everyone recited back, giving Coran one last look before going back to talking about their next topic of choice. 

Finally, Lance’s 8 hours were up and once he gets the all clear from Blue, he's walking out of her mouth, glad to be able to get out into a more open space. Of course that freedom is short lived as Shiro immediately scoops him up, tossing him over his shoulder. 

“AAaaAhhh!!! Shiro! What are you doing?!?!”

“isn't it obvious?” 

“NO!”

Shiro keeps carrying Lance around the castle until they come to the break lounge. Hunk jumps ahead of Shiro and plops down on the couch, snuggling into the corner and keeping his front open and welcoming. And that's where Lance end up. Shiro practically tosses him to Hunk, who tuck his head to The back of Lance’s neck, wrapping his arms around Lance’s shoulders. Keeping him from getting up.   
“GUYS! Come on!!! Let me uuuppp!!!” Lance complains, trying to push off Hunk’s arms, to no avail. And suddenly there's a weight on his chest. Lance looks down to see Shiro, who is cuddling him with everything he's worth. “Nope. Not gonna do that Lance.” Shiro mumbles into his chest, snuggling even more into Lance’s chest.   
“Come on guys. seriously! I need to take a shower! I reek! Besides, I’m still not out of the clear yet, I can still get the bends, which is not fun! Now let me up!” Lance rambles,squirming in both of their hugs trying to get them to let him go. All he gets is Pidge burrowing between his side and the couch. “Well then, its better if we all stay and keep and eye on you. Cause you're not leaving anytime soon.” Pidge states as if it is fact, slips one of her arms in under Shiro's and squeezes Lance just as tight, confirming that he is not going anywhere.   
What really caught Lance off guard was that Keith joined in the hug puddle too. Thankfully he didn't crowd into his chest as well, he scooped up Shiro’s and Lance’s feet and plopped them down on this lap, ensuring that Lance can't wiggle out. 

Lance lets out a sigh, resigned to his fate. He's able to wiggle out an arm and begins to card his fingers through Shiro's hair. Lance can't help but smile, knowing that everyone really has taken to acting like a family. It makes the homesickness hurt less. It makes him feel wanted and protected.  
He knows that with his team; with his new family, he is loved just as much as he is back on Earth. 

 

‘It's good to be home.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment! They are like my bread and butter, and I love every single one I get! Thank you so much for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments if you liked it and want it to continue. I know that I have another chapter in the works, so hopefully I'll be able to update it by tomorrow.


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